World's Oldest Man Dies at 111 Years Old

Women gained the right to vote. Two world wars were fought. Martin Luther King was assassinated. For most of us, these sound like facts rattled off from a history book. But Alexander Imich saw all of these happen in his lifetime. At 111 years old, Imich, the world's oldest man died of natural causes yesterday morning in his Manhattan apartment.

The old cliché "he lived a full life" has never been more accurate. Imich, who fled Poland when the Nazis invaded in 1939, immigrated to the US in 1951. He was a respected chemist and parapsychologist who, in his younger years (and by that, we mean 92), learned to work a computer and edited a book about paranormal activity. In an interview with The New York Times this May, Imich attributed his longevity to good genes, not having kids, staying fit, watching his caloric intake and no alcohol. Okay, that might make for some pretty slow nights, but, hey, if you want to live to be a supercentenarian...

The Guinness world record for the oldest man now belongs to Japan's Sakari Momoi, who was born just one day after Imich in 1903. Sixty-five women are older than Momoi, the oldest being Misao Okawa from Japan, at 116.

If looking at lists of '90s nostalgia or the fact that Mean Girls just turned 10 makes you feel old, let's take a look back at some of the things that happened during Imich's lifetime. Suddenly your 20s will have a little more perspective, just like your parents always said they would.

The Roaring '20s

Imich was in his '20s in the Gatsby playground, but I guess as a teetotaler the prohibition wouldn't have mattered much to him, anyhow.

Sliced bread, 1928

That's right, he was one of the only people that could've said with authority if something was "the best thing since sliced bread."

Atomic bombs, 1945

Imich was 42-years old the only time that atomic bombs have been used during wartime.

Six cheating presidents

During his life Imich saw six different presidential affairs. That's enough of Scandal-type drama to get us through until the next season comes back!

The British Invasion

The stuff that you hear on classic rock stations, now? Imich was already in his 60s when The Beatles and The Stones took American music by storm. Oh, and I guess he saw this British invasion, too.